Dungeons & DiSers Part twelve: I’m here, to remind you, of the cross Owlbear that you gave to me

Just in time before tonight’s session, here’s last week’s recap.

As always, apologies for any errors.


The cast

Gloran Hopback (@grievoustim) Dwarf Monk
Sir Kelross (@anon42112221) Half-elf Ranger
Zana Dalanthan (@anon75298087) Wood Elf Druid
Sir Curtas Sulazar (@keith) Human Fighter
Fannloy Roade (@anon67149139) Human Cleric


Previous recaps: Dungeons & DiSers Part one: Don’t know who you are, pal
Dungeons & DiSers Part two: Big Cave and The Bad Deeds
Dungeons & DiSers Part three: Let Sleeping Giants lie
Dungeons & DiSers Part three: Wyvern long face?
Dungeons & DiSers Part five: Back to The Phandalin
Dungeons & DiSers Part six: Shut up and roll the crits
Dungeons & DiSers Part seven: The Linton Gravel Cavern
Dungeons & DiSers Part eight: Staff meeting
Dungeons & DiSers Part nine: Crossbow, Skills & Crash
Dungeons & DiSers Part ten: More killing stuff in a castle
Dungeons & DiSers Part eleven: It’s murder at the Cragmaw, you’d better not kill the dwarf


The story so far

The dwarf Gundren Rockseeker, a close friend of the party, had recently found a map he thought would lead him and his two brothers to Wave Echo Cave; a magical cave that most people assume is a myth.

Gundren and his bodyguard, Sildar, were ambushed on the way to the town of Phandalin. The party rescued Sildar but Gundren had been taken to Cragmaw Castle at the request of The Black Spider and was sadly killed during the party’s rescue attempt.

The Black Spider is a dark elf who wants to find Wave Echo Cave for himself. He’s arranged every setback the party have faced since leaving the city of Neverwinter.

After becoming local heroes in the town of Phandalin, they are now grieving the loss of their friend, battling an angry owlbear as they attempt to flee Cragmaw Castle.


Part twelve: I’m here, to remind you, of the cross Owlbear that you gave to me

Outside the crumbling castle, Sir Curtas dashed across the grass. Using every bit of strength he could muster to carry the dying Sir Kelross to safety. He lay the half-elf down and looked back to see what was happening with his other friends.

He knew Zana and Fannloy were still inside, but his spirits lifted when he saw Gloren sprinting towards him.

Gloren knelt by Sir Kelross and tried his best to treat the savage bite wound on his back. The owlbear’s beak had struck deep and Gloren found himself frustratingly unable to do anything: his friend was bleeding out.

Following Gloren’s lead, Sir Curtas pulled out a healing kit and managed to stop the bleeding. He put Sir Kelross in the recovery position and double-checked he was okay. He wouldn’t be up and fighting any time soon, but he was pulled away from death’s door.

Meanwhile, in the castle, Zana and Fannloy led the owlbear through the castle. Using doors to counteract it’s considerable speed. As it smashed its way through barrels and let its hideous screech echo around the walls, they led it into a room they could trap it in. And trap it they did.

Breathing a collective sigh of relief, the party made their way back into the castle and decided to spend the night in one of the former hobgoblin rooms. It had beds in it.

Halfway through the night, Gloren’s watch was interrupted by an approaching sound. Wasting no time, he roused his friends (including a much perkier Sir Kelross).

As they got themselves ready, Sir Curtas and Gloren tried to listen harder in the hope of identifying the source. Sir Curtas heard some grunting and moving about, but Gloren’s ears heard more specific sounds. “Hobgoblins!” he whispered.

Zana snuck forward and opened the door a crack. Waving her hand about and muttering the required words, she called forth a mass of vines and weeds to trap the hobgoblins in place.

With them trapped, the door was flung open and an arrow from Sir Kelross sailed through it, hitting a hobgoblin dead in the chest. Severely wounded, it made an easy kill for Fannloy.

Gloren leapt into the fray and killed one of the beasts with a single critical stroke of his axe. Two down already. Looked like there were three more.

As Sir Kelross’s arrows failed to damage their targets, Fannloy quipped “That a longbow? More like a wrongbow!” and cruelly no one laughed.

Zana blessed Gloren with Bear’s Endurance, making him more resistant to pain. Which was well-timed as he caught a bad strike from a hobgoblin’s sword almost immediately afterwards. Unfortunately, his retaliation was a bad swing and he put his axe into a door frame.

Fannloy summoned a spiritual weapon in the shape of a giant piece of Camembert and swung it at the hobgoblins. Sadly, not doing much damage.

The remaining fight was not a long one. Gloren’s axe took down hobgoblin number three and Sir Kelross’ arrow shot with deadly precision into the ear of another.

As the remaining hobgoblin managed to hit Fannloy, he died soon after thanks to a combination of axe and Camembert attacks. A roaming party of five hobgoblins was clearly no challenge for the Heroes of Phandalin. Not anymore.

As the sun rose, the party gathered their things. They carefully loaded the cart with the corpse of Gundren Rockseeker and rode back to Phandalin.

The town was a hive of activity. Labourers worked on the town’s crumbled perimeter wall. The town guard now wore black cloaks and carried themselves with a sense of pride and purpose, not a drunken amble. After checking in at the Stonehill Inn, they found out that the cowardly Harbin Wester had left his post as Townmaster and been replaced by Halia Thornton (the woman who runs the mining exchange and paid the party to clear out the redbrands).

Arriving shortly after them in the inn was Sildar. The party solemnly passed on the news about Gundren. In his grief, Sildar thanked the party for bringing his friend’s corpse. He would take it to Neverwinter where he would make sure he was buried with his kin. After much sombre drinking, the party retired for the night.

And levelled up to level 4. Whoop!

What now for the Heroes of Phandalin? What kind of Townmaster will Halia be? Will it matter? They have the map to Wave Echo Cave: the possible location of their adversary, The Black Spider.

Kill count:
36 goblins
11 hobgoblins
9 redbrand thugs
7 orcs
7 skeletons
5 wolves
5 bugbears
1 ogre
1 doppelganger
1 grick
1 nothic

3 Likes

Hi @sadpunk, I have no real interest in this kind of thing at all, but as a pun enthusiast can I just say that these titles are really top-tier work.

5 Likes

Thanks man! :pray:

1 Like

I always assume that when you post it up late in the week it’s because it took you a long time to come up with a good pun

4 Likes

Hahaha!

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